No entry to Vietnam
 

For a few years we have been slipping into Vietnam from Lao on Highway 8 despite a ban on bikes over 175cc. For some reason the customs officers at this check point didn't implement the rules. Now they do. In the last months (April-May 2002) they have been turning back all big bikes. All other Lao-Vietnam routes are blocked too, as is the Phnom Pen to Ho Chi Minh route. Things may change though.

Some more accurate info from the guy who tried to get in May 2002:
The border guards were really good and friendly on the vietnam border despite what every said. the prblem is nothing to do with the cc of the bike, they just do not recognise the carnet de passage for the import. The story I got from one of the guards is that they had reason to claim on a canrnet within the last couple of months and because vietnam do not officially partake in the carnet agreement, they couldnt get any money.
Result is that it is now not a valid document for Vietnam. I heard two solutions for this.
One is to get a Laos- Vietnam vehicle permit. I was lucky in that I had the help of a english speaking guide who I met in Lak Sao on an organised trip. He helped me try to get this permit, but despite trips back and forth to
and from Lak Sao, I could not seem to gethold of the one guy in the region
capable of doing it. I was then sent to Paksan, and couldnt face going
there for more red tape, so wrote the process off.
The second is to get permission from Hanoi...military police were
mentioned, but I was too disheartened at this stage to do it.

Sorry to hear that. I entered Vietnam at 11/04/2002 and left Vietnam at 30/04/2002. I had no problems then - route 8!

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Jürgen

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